Measuring nurse-sensitive patient outcomes across specialty units

In efforts to quantify the quality of care delivered to patients within their systems, nursing administrators are being called on to both privately and publicly report nursing-sensitive outcomes for their institutions. Accurate reporting with appropriate patient population or risk adjustment is essential if the reported outcomes are to provide meaningful data to consumers and providers. At present there are no effective mechanisms available that can sufficiently adjust nursing-sensitive outcomes to assure reliable reporting. This study suggests that specialty unit classification may be one method by which nursing-sensitive outcomes can be accurately reported.